Social Status: Modulating chronic stress
Many popular movies focus on high school dramas that feature the classic scenario of an overconfident kid bullying the nerdy victim who, although distraught by their low social status, eventually finds a way to triumph over the bully. As social animals, we find this relatable – our social status affects our lives, and not having the status we want can be stressful and affect our health (Sherman and Mehta, 2020).
Social hierarchies are also common among other mammals. Mice, for example, form complex dominance hierarchies to improve their social stability and reduce conflicts, and can therefore be useful models to study how social rank and biological sex may affect how individuals respond to stress. So far, little is known about how a mouse’s social rank affects its physiology and behavior, and even less about how this differs between sexes. Previous research suggests that the social rank of male mice can influence their health, with subordinate individuals displaying anxiety-like behaviors and greater physiological stress levels (Bartolomucci, 2007). However, female mice also form social hierarchies, and since male and female mice respond differently to stress, it is likely that social rank plays a different role in both sexes (Schuhr, 1987; Williamson et al., 2019; Bangasser and Wicks, 2017).
Now, in eLife, Alon Chen and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and the Weizmann Institute of Science – including Stoyo Karamihalev and Elena Brivio as joint first authors – report new insights into a potential link between social status and sex-dependent responses to stress (Karamihalev et al., 2020). Karamihalev et al. developed an automated behavioral monitoring system, the so-called Social Box, to assess social dominance hierarchies of male and female mice living in same sex groups. Then, the researchers evaluated how the social rank affected their responses to stress by measuring physiological and behavioral indicators of stress, activity and anxiety.
First, Karamihalev et al. assessed the hierarchical structure of mice living in groups over four days in the Social Box (Figure 1A) and calculated dominance behavior using a David’s Score, an established method for inferring social hierarchies based on the number and directionality of chases between pairs of mice. Both sexes formed social hierarchies. However, correlations between social rank and the time spent exploring were only found in males, perhaps reflecting sex-specific patrolling behaviors.
Many popular movies focus on high school dramas that feature the classic scenario of an overconfident kid bullying the nerdy victim who, although distraught by their low social status, eventually finds a way to triumph over the bully. As social animals, we find this relatable – our social status affects our lives, and not having the status we want can be stressful and affect our health (Sherman and Mehta, 2020).
Social hierarchies are also common among other mammals. Mice, for example, form complex dominance hierarchies to improve their social stability and reduce conflicts, and can therefore be useful models to study how social rank and biological sex may affect how individuals respond to stress. So far, little is known about how a mouse’s social rank affects its physiology and behavior, and even less about how this differs between sexes. Previous research suggests that the social rank of male mice can influence their health, with subordinate individuals displaying anxiety-like behaviors and greater physiological stress levels (Bartolomucci, 2007). However, female mice also form social hierarchies, and since male and female mice respond differently to stress, it is likely that social rank plays a different role in both sexes (Schuhr, 1987; Williamson et al., 2019; Bangasser and Wicks, 2017).
Now, in eLife, Alon Chen and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and the Weizmann Institute of Science – including Stoyo Karamihalev and Elena Brivio as joint first authors – report new insights into a potential link between social status and sex-dependent responses to stress (Karamihalev et al., 2020). Karamihalev et al. developed an automated behavioral monitoring system, the so-called Social Box, to assess social dominance hierarchies of male and female mice living in same sex groups. Then, the researchers evaluated how the social rank affected their responses to stress by measuring physiological and behavioral indicators of stress, activity and anxiety.
First, Karamihalev et al. assessed the hierarchical structure of mice living in groups over four days in the Social Box (Figure 1A) and calculated dominance behavior using a David’s Score, an established method for inferring social hierarchies based on the number and directionality of chases between pairs of mice. Both sexes formed social hierarchies. However, correlations between social rank and the time spent exploring were only found in males, perhaps reflecting sex-specific patrolling behaviors.